Wednesday, January 28, 2009

People build to satisfy a need whatever materials are used they give expression to what they consider valuable and vital. Besides providing shelter it is also symbolic. According to Sir Herbert Read "a mode of symbolic discourse and where there is no symbol and therefore no discourse there is no art."

Our text explains that there is a difference between physical structure and perceptual structure. Physical structure is the framework or bones of a building. Perceptual structure is perhaps something that could be used for structure but is actually decorative. Our text gave two examples in the left

photo the Shapero Hall of Pharmacy at Wayne State University, Detroit 1965.

A building which rest on its smallest point. Also the Provident life and Trust

Company, Philadelphia with ornate designs on the front facade of the building.

This one no longer exist. Firmness has to do with the framework of the building

how well it is supported what holds it up, can it withstand the elements.

How long with it last.

Delight:

Delight has to visual perception how architecture is perceived. How are minds

through our senses perceive and interprets what is seen, felt, smelled or tasted.

in Gestalt psychology "form or shape" shape pattern and points in space are interpreted as lying on a single plane, even if one is distant and another closer .

Things we don't understand we tend to make sense of it in our own minds.

examples given where a row of lines or dots will be seen as being equil distance and two parallel lines slightly different in length, will be seen as equal in length. One of the reasons the Parthenon in Athens seems so interesting is that there is no a single straight or regular line in it. that appears at first glance to be repetative and uniformed is actually a precise arrangement of inequalities and curves. (P71 Understanding Architecture Its Elements, History and Meaning. Leland M. Roth.)

Rhythm and proportion are all part of what makes sense. Texture something for the eye to see or hand to feel. Light gives off different moods. Light is used in psycology in modern day for relaxation or production in business building.

Space is another element in concept of delight there is physical space, the volume of air bound by walls, floor, and ceiling in a room. Perceptual space is the space we think we see. Building using glass or mirrors this sense of space may extend beyond the actual boundary of the glass. Conceptual space definded as a perception of what we know from memory. Behavioral space is the space we actually move in. Frank Lloyd Wright gives examples of all these concepts of space in Lloyd Lewis House in Livertyville, Illinois. 1939.

A mute, utilitarian container? The crystallization of ideas? A shelter in the form of art. According to Ralph Waldo Emerson "A blossoming in stone and a flowering of geometry. According to "Goethe" "Frozen Music" " Human triumph over gravitation and the will to power" Nietzsche. "The will of an epoch translated into space" Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe." The Magnificent play of forms in light."Architect Le Corbusier...A cultural instrument- according to Louis I Kahn. "Inhabited sculpture" Constantin Brancusi.and Ada Louise Huxtable "Architecture is balance of structural science and aesthetic expression for the satisfaction of needs that go far beyond utilitarian. Louis I. Kahn, "architecture is what nature cannot make."

I agree with nearly all of the above except for the statement of Louis I. Kahn because without nature, plants, soil, trees, stones, sunlight, the earth itself we would have no architecture and most designs were taken from nature. The golden angle for creating perfect measurements in creating forms or structures is taken straight from nature.(the sunflower seed). Without the resources from the earth the peoples of the earth would not have been able to construct anything.

" Architecture is the chambers nautilus shell of the human species: it is the environment we build for ourselves, and which as we grow in experience and knowledge, we change and adapt to our expanded condition. If we wish to understand ourselves, we must take care not to eliminate the"shell" of our past

Drawing for Perceptions and Design Class week of01/19/09.:Critique from Grimm's Fairy tale.King Thrushbeard. The story explains that everything is not necessarily what it seems. The way things look or are perceived may have a differentparadigm. In this case the King's daughter was spoiled and haunty and of little experience in lifewhen her father tried to find a suitor for her she rejected all on mere appearance.Plays, stories, movies,as an art form require the coordination of skilled individuals, writers, actors, producers, directors, art designers, taylors, electricians an whole aray of specialized individuals to construct an art such is true as in architecture.

Epicurus Materialistic movement of History of Philosophy occurred "PainPleasure principle the basis causes of behavior are man's instinctive avoidance of pain and attraction to pleasure. "eat drink and be merry for tomorrow you may die."Stics philosopher advocates taking the world as you find it-bearing pain anddoing good for its practical results.

Fishing village discovered along Siene River Paris France first sign ofcivilization of the city of Paris France.

First Enviornmentalist : Ashoka the Great and Peiysdarsi ruled over Maurya Dynasty of India 273-232BC including present day Iran and Afghanistan.After conversion to Buddhism Ashoka created first animal protectionpolicy.

Egypt: Under Ptolemies (Ptolemy Philadelphus) 285-259BCGeometrician Euclid Manetho Egyptian historian choronologies ancientEgyptian civilization and found to be accurate and thorough.Arisistratos created the science of Physiology.